


never have i ever

by lesbianxcatra



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/F, Friends With Benefits, Secret Relationship, Summer Camp, Top Catra (She-Ra), adora has an undercut, and there was only one bunkbed, so fwb: but in secret, they're all camp counselors, tune in to find out, will they start to have feelings for each other?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:41:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29413572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianxcatra/pseuds/lesbianxcatra
Summary: Adora and Catra have both always hated each other, kind of.But when the rival Summer Camps they work at have to merge, they have to find a way to work with each other andalsohide what they've been doing for the last three years.or: Summer Camp AU with secret friends with benefits
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 172





	never have i ever

**Author's Note:**

> at first glance you would think, ah, the title is from that game you play at sleepovers 'never have i ever,' here i am to inform you actually that it is also a line from August by Taylor Swift - it's half a line but it's there, I have to stay on brand
> 
> i did a copious amount of research to find different summer camp experiences for this... let's just say... it was interesting
> 
> imagine adora with an undercut and a septum ring, and catra with the septum ring nose hoop combo
> 
> cw for this chapter: drug usage (weed)

“Can everyone gather around me please?” Adora shouted as she twisted her hair back up into a ponytail, it had become a little loose when she was helping Bow put a canoe back on a rack.

The other camp counselors made a circle around her, everyone was already sweating from the heat of the sun on their backs. Adora looked through her notes on the clipboard in her hands to make sure that they were still on schedule for their setup.

“Cool,” She smiled at all of them, “Campers are coming in three days, so we have a little time to just hangout. Um, cabins are the same as they’ve always been. I’m with Bow and Glimmer, then Mermista, Perfuma, and Seahawk are together.”

The group gave her a collective nod and thumbs up before they went back to talking. Glimmer ran over to her so fast she almost knocked her over before she was brought into a hug.

“I’m so excited!” She cheered, “It’s our fifth year working here, we need to celebrate.”

Adora had been the head counselor of Camp Bright Moon for the last four years, Angella had promoted her after her first year there, since Adora may have been a little bit of a _control freak_ about her camp duties.

“Perfuma has weed.” Mermista chimed in, “We’re gonna smoke in the forest and go hammocking.”

Adora gave them a nod as they made their way into the woods, knowing they would probably join them later.

“How do you want to celebrate?” Adora laughed as Bow joined their group hug.

“We could go skinny dipping?” Glimmer wiggled her eyebrows as she playfully shoved Adora backward.

“It’s like, noon, Glimmer.” Bow laughed and shook his head.

“Okay, fine,” Glimmer huffed. “Solution, let’s just go jump in with our clothes on.”

Adora and Bow laughed in agreement, and they all walked hand in hand down a small hill to get to the lake.

“I don’t think I’ve been under the influence of anything since last summer,” Adora said as all three of them stripped themselves of their shirts. Adora and Glimmer both had sports bras on so they weren’t _completely_ naked.

“Under the influence?” Glimmer scrunched her nose, “That’s such a lame way to put it.”

“Yeah, Adora,” Bow teased, “Quite _lame_.”

“Okay, you know what,” Adora said as she scooped Glimmer up into her arms to hold her bridal style. “You’re getting thrown in the lake.”

Glimmer kicked and yelled as Adora carried her to the end of the dock before she threw her off of it into the deep end.

“Oh, you’re dead, Grayskull.” Glimmer shouted, coughing up a bit of water.

Bow ended up running up behind Adora and shoving her into the water before he jumped in. After a couple of minutes of splashing each other and laughing, they were interrupted.

“Hey, guys! Wow, I just spent a while trying to find you, but I’m here!”

Adora felt like her whole body turned to ice as she watched Scorpia walk to the end of the dock, a huge duffle bag slung over her shoulder.

“What?” Adora looked at her with wide eyes, “I’m sorry, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, shit.” Glimmer dunked herself under the water before slicking back her hair. “Shit, uh, hey.” She went up behind Adora to wrap her arms around her neck. “Did my mom forget to tell you?”

Scorpia looked between the two of them with a puzzled expression before setting her bag down. “Sorry if I got here late, Catra is a terrible driver.”

Adora felt her face go numb, she hoisted herself back up onto the dock. “Why is Catra here?”

Scorpia laughed, clearly uncomfortable. “Uh, anyone wanna help me out here?”

Scorpia was one of the counselors from their rival camp across the lake, The Horde Camp. Which the Bright Moon counselors so generously nicknamed, “The Fright Zone.” They would frequently play against each other in scavenger hunts or sports games, which led to a mostly healthy rivalry.

The Bright Moon counselors didn’t mind Scorpia, she was one of the few they actually would invite over so they could all hang out.

But there were two or so people that _none_ of them liked to be around.

And, Adora had made a mistake, a couple of times.

“Adora,” Glimmer said as she got out of the water. “I don’t know why my mom wouldn’t tell you, but The Horde Camp shut down… They merged with Camp Bright Moon this year so their campers would still have a place to go this summer.”

Adora’s throat went dry, she curled her hands into a fist before trying her best to plaster on a smile. “So… Catra’s here?”

“Yes?” Scorpia said, still trying to look between the three of them to get some clarity. “Can someone show me where my cabin is? This bag is super heavy. Entrapta gets here tomorrow and I think I’m sharing it with her?”

Bow also joined them on the dock and gave Scorpia a high five and a grin, “I will.”

Adora watched as the two of them walked away, she was mentally trying to trace her steps to remember where she left her water bottle so she could fix the dryness in her mouth.

“Adora, what’s up?” Glimmer placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I know it’ll be annoying to have some of them here, but it’ll be fine. You have us.”

Adora held in a cynical laugh, everything _would_ probably be fine, but it was also just _not_ that easy.

“I’m going to go change, a wet sports bra is an uncomfortable feeling.” She walked away as quickly as she could, crossing her fingers that Glimmer wouldn’t follow her.

Adora was supposed to hate Catra on principle. They were both head counselors at their respective camps, and their sports teams always played against each other. There had definitely been some nasty words exchanged between the two of them, and neither of them were against arguing in public.

The basis for a rivalry was there.

They were always competing, always trying to one-up each other, to the point where it was common knowledge that you didn’t want to be in the same room as the two of them.

So, all of her friends hated Catra. For many reasons, really.

But Adora never really did.

She pretended, she engaged in whatever yelling match they had at volleyball tournaments, she nodded when Glimmer would rant about Catra being annoying. She tried _really_ hard.

But Catra was… Catra.

Adora could say many things about Catra. She was funny, witty, and great at her job to the point where Adora was jealous.

But, everything initially started because Catra was just, _super hot_ , and Adora was extremely gay.

When she saw that Catra’s nails were considerably longer, besides… three of them, she had panicked and downed all of the water in her water bottle in under two minutes.

Adora finally reached her cabin and stumbled through the door. They hadn’t even had the chance to unpack or set up, the bunk beds still completely bare.

She sat down on the bottom bunk, holding her face in her hands as her mind raced, trying to plan how she was going to _hide_ everything that happened between the two of them. She needed a plan, she needed to think of a backstory that resembled anything but the truth. She needed-

“Hey, Adora.”

Adora sat up so quickly she knocked her head on the top bunk, “Catra, did you seriously… Are you, why are you in here?”

“Uh, I’m staying here?”

“This is mine, with Glimmer and Bow.”

“There are four beds.” Catra pointed to the top bunk and shrugged.

“Ask to switch.” Adora crossed her arms, she tried her best to look angry, but Catra met her with a smirk.

“Nah, I’m not gonna, it’s more fun this way. And I like to see you get flustered.”

“Did you really not think to at least text me that you were coming here?”

“You blocked me,” Catra’s smirk widened, “Also, I wasn’t aware that you didn’t know. Angella should have told you.”

Catra grabbed the clipboard that Adora had set down on her bed and started flipping through it, Adora tried to snatch it out of her hands but Catra darted backward.

“Catra, can you please- that is my clipboard.”

Catra grinned and kept it out of Adora’s reach. “We have to share it for a bit until I get my own.”

“I am the only one who needs it,” Adora crossed her arms and let out a huff. She was very protective of her clipboard.

“Adora,” Catra sat on the bottom bunk next to Adora and placed a hand on her upper thigh. “I was head counselor at the Horde, and Angella didn’t want to demote me. We are _sharing_ the title. Also, why are your clothes wet?” Catra took one of the straps of Adora’s sports bra and snapped it lightly.

“Maybe I should just go hang out with everyone else.” Adora scowled before standing up to shuffle through her clothes. She was already compiling a list of things to text Angella about when she was alone later.

Telling Adora would have literally taken two seconds, but now she just needed to move past it. 

Now that everything was happening, apparently.

“Wow, don’t sound so happy to see me. I haven’t seen you since last summer, I expected a warmer welcome.”

“Well, we kind of… made the rule that we don’t talk... or see each other.” Adora stumbled over her words and busied herself with putting random things away from her suitcase.

“We’ve always reinstated friends with benefits when the summer starts again, Adora,” Catra said, almost purring over the sound of her name.

“Can it be friends with benefits if we aren’t friends?” Adora tried to keep her tone as monotone as possible.

“So, you’re saying that you’re good with us hooking up as long as we aren’t friends?”

“ _No_ , that is not what I meant, Catra-”

“Okay, okay.” Catra cackled, and Adora hated that it made her smile. “Anyway, I’m getting the top bunk.”

“Can you just let me have one thing?” Adora exhaled dramatically as she found a dry sports bra and a tank top to change into.

“You know I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. This is just as embarrassing for me as it is for you.”

“You think sleeping with me is embarrassing?” Even with the AC on in the cabin, Adora felt herself get uncomfortably hot.

“Yeah, Grayskull, kinda is.”

“Well,” Adora turned her back to Catra so she could strip out of her wet clothes. “We can’t sleep with each other at camp now that you work here. Employees aren’t supposed to… Be romantic with each other.”

“Romantic with each other? Wow, didn’t know you were planning on asking me on a date.”

“Shut up,” Adora let out a laugh as she struggled out of her wet clothes. “You know what I mean.”

“I’m good with just making you flustered for the next couple of weeks. No _romantic_ things involved.”

“You know what,” Adora scoffed, “I can make you flustered just as much.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Adora turned around slowly still topless looking in Catra’s directions with a smirk that mirrored her's earlier, she let out a giggle as Catra’s jaw dropped slightly. “Yeah,” Adora shrugged, “It is.”

Adora almost fell over as she heard the door handle turn, she dashed quickly into the bathroom and shut the door to hastily pull her clothes back on.

“Oh, _you_.”

Adora stepped out of the bathroom, trying to act as neutral as possible when she saw Glimmer with her arms crossed near the front door, her discontent directed at Catra.

“Hi, Sparkles. Good to see you, too.”

“Adora, Double Trouble is here and they are already on my nerves. They think we should do _August Osage County_ scenes, with _teenagers_. To get them to think critically, but there is death and addiction-”

“I’ll handle it, Glim,” Adora said, putting her hand up. “We have a pre-approved parents list that they signed off on for what plays we can do. I have it in a folder, I’ll grab it for you later.”

Catra started cackling into her hands and shook her head at Glimmer.

Glimmer looked back and forth between the two of them, her scowl growing by the second. “What, are you two friends now?”

“No-”

“Not yet,” Catra smiled and stood up to sling her arm over Adora’s shoulders. “But since we’re all living and working together for a couple of weeks, Adora is making an effort.”

Glimmer scrunched up her nose. “I hate that.”

“What, you don’t want me to join your lame ass ‘best friends group'-”

“It’s _squad_ \- You know what. I’ll leave you two alone. Adora can come to get high after so she can relax after dealing with you.”

“Always a pleasure, Sparkles.” Catra waved as Glimmer stomped out of their cabin.

“I hate-” Adora stopped herself and scratched the back of her neck. She frowned as Catra’s grin grew wider. “Okay, fine, I _don’t_ hate you, but-”

“Hey, I don’t hate you either.” Catra’s grin softened into the slightest bit of fondness. She stood and pulled Adora by the elastic waistband of her athletic shorts. “You look really good.” She whispered, her eyes blatantly scanning over all of Adora’s body, making her shiver under her touch.

“You do, too… Um, I think everyone will be gone for a while.” Adora chewed on her bottom lip and let Catra pull her in a little closer.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Catra’s voice dropped lower as she moved her hand up under the fabric of Adora’s shirt to place it on her side.

“So, you know… If-”

“Yeah,” Catra cut her off immediately and sat back down on the lower bunk. She pulled Adora by her hips so she was standing in between her legs.

“Just this once?” Adora whispered, her eyes flickered up to Catra’s lips.

“Yeah,” Catra tightened her grip on Adora’s waist.

“But, uh, maybe,” Adora cringed at how her voice shook, “We should talk about last year…”

Catra’s hands dropped from Adora’s body and her face turned to stone. “I don’t want to.”

“Oh, okay, cool.” Adora’s voice cracked, her body already ached from the loss of contact. “Sounds great.”

“We can stop if you want. For real," Catra said reassuringly, "I should go find Scorpia.”

Adora shook her head, she placed her hands on the sides of Catra’s face and they locked eyes. “No,” She brought her mouth just above Catra’s so their lips brushed slightly. “Let’s keep going.”  
  
  
  
Adora unceremoniously put her clothes back on, turning her back to Catra and stumbling a bit as she tried to get her leg through her shorts. “That is the only time that will happen,” She said with anything but confidence in her voice.

“Whatever you say,” Catra said, and Adora could tell she was grinning without even having to look at her.

“I should probably go catch up with everyone,” Adora sighed. “You could probably come if you wanted to. It might be a good idea to at least be acquaintances with everyone.”

“You might want to at least jump in the lake because you smell like pussy.” Catra playfully shoved her and stuck her tongue out. “You know that I’ll be civil, I take my job just as seriously as you do. If that’s even possible, control freak.”

“Okay, well,” Adora wrung her hands together, “We still have to… You know… Not tell anyone about this.”

“I told you, I won’t.” Catra crossed her arms, “I’m sure you don’t want everyone to know you’re a bottom.”

“ _Catra_ ,” Adora felt heat flush to her face, “Can you please-”

“We have gone _three_ _years_ without anyone finding out,” Catra rolled her eyes, “I think we’ll be okay as long as you keep your cool.”

“I always keep my cool,” Adora huffed.

Catra laughed, “Whatever you say. Do I have your permission to tease you at least?” She lifted an eyebrow before she started shuffling through her own things and pulling out clothes.

Adora felt a weird mix of shame but also excitement claw its way to her heart, “Yeah,” She whispered, “Just like… Secretly, I guess.”

“That can be arranged,” Catra shrugged. “Go catch up with everyone, we need to talk about logistics together anyway. Have fun beforehand, at least.”

“You could jump in the lake with me?” Adora said, hoping it wouldn’t sound too desperate.

One of the worst things about Catra was that she was so incredibly intoxicating. Adora always wanted to fill her lungs with any drip of attention that she’d give back to her. And she always wanted to spend more time with her, which Catra would occasionally indulge her with.

Catra had a better grip on making sure nothing got too… Messy… They mostly kept it to hooking up in random places, the most that they had done together was hang out before or after the fact.

Adora would rather jump off a cliff than have any semblance of real feelings for Catra. 

Catra had also made it _very_ clear the previous year that nothing like that would ever happen between them. 

Adora had to pretend it didn’t make her occasionally sick to her stomach.

Not the not having feelings part, but just… The way she let her know.

“I will _not_ be jumping in the lake,” Catra scrunched her nose up. “I’ll accompany you if you want, I like seeing you wet.”

“Catra,” Adora shook her head, “Never say I am the lame one again, that was super lame.”

Catra laughed, she slid on a pair of athletic shorts and a tank top before turning to Adora and giving her a thumbs up. Adora momentarily pretended that she wasn't stuck on the fact that Catra was not wearing a bra.

“ _Whatever_ will people say if they see us together?” Catra said dramatically. 

“They’ll think that we are talking about _logistics_.” Adora shrugged, motioning for Catra to follow her out the door.

They had barely taken two steps outside before they were stopped.

“Catra,” Bow smiled, clearly doing his best to fake enthusiasm. “You’re… Here!”

“You know what,” Catra squeezed Adora’s shoulder, causing Adora to become momentarily flustered. “I should go catch up with Scorpia, see if she’s okay.”

“Oh, yeah, okay.” Adora did her best not to frown as she watched Catra walk away.

“The fact that she has to sleep in the same place as us makes everything a million times worse.” Glimmer groaned before throwing an arm over Adora’s shoulders. “Would you like to be _under the_ _influence_ , in a couple of minutes?”

Adora smiled, “Sure,” She turned her head one last time to watch Catra again before she allowed herself to be dragged away by her two best friends.

\--

“Scorpia?” Catra said hesitantly as she walked into the cabin, it was a disaster inside, clothes were strewn about everywhere and mass amounts of outdoor equipment were on the floor.

“Oh, Catra!” Scorpia chuckled nervously as she stared at the pile of stuff on the ground. “I’m just trying to unpack, I think I forgot sunscreen?”

Catra pointed to the exactly eight bottles of sunscreen on the bottom bunk of the bed. “That looks like sunscreen to me.”

“Oh,” Scorpia laughed again. “I feel like a little bit of a mess, no one here seems… Really inviting so far.”

Catra chuckled sarcastically, “Totally, I get that.” She started picking up things off of the floor to sort them into piles based off of their respective categories while Scorpia paced around the room.

“Scorp, I don’t think you should worry. It’s really hard for someone not to love you.” Catra patted her on the back and stopped her from pacing. “I will make sure that you feel comfortable here, okay?” She narrowed her eyes as she stared at her.

“Okay,” Scorpia sighed with relief. “Adora just seems so…”

“Uptight?” Catra smirked, “Yeah, I see that. **_But,_ ** I dare to say Glimmer is more uptight than she is.”

“I just want her to like me, you know?” Scorpia scratched her head. “Maybe that’s dumb, but if we have to spend so much time here with everyone, I just want us to be at least civil.”

“You know what?” Catra squeezed her shoulder in reassurance, “I will absolutely make sure Adora is at least civil with you.”

Scorpia cocked her head to the side, “How?”

Catra swallowed down the panic rising in her throat, “Don’t worry about it.” She said with every ounce of confidence she could muster. “I’ll just make sure.”

“Maybe we should join everyone in the woods?” Scorpia bit her lip nervously, “Will it not just make it worse if we spend time apart from everyone?”

“Uh,” Catra took a deep breath to ground herself. “You can, I think I might just walk around and familiarize myself with everything.”

Scorpia sighed dramatically before rubbing her eyes, “I can’t go alone.” She shrugged sheepishly, “Please, for me?”

“Fuck,” Catra groaned, “Alright. But you owe me, okay?”

“Catra, _you_ also need to be civil.”

Catra held in another cynical laugh, she _could_ be civil, but she did _not_ want to be.

Catra hated Adora for quite a long time, until after a volleyball game had ended three summers ago and Adora came up to her with her arms crossed. She’d accused Catra’s team of cheating, which made Catra burst into a fit of laughter.

“How the fuck do you cheat at volleyball?” Catra shook her head and shoved her back lightly.

Adora’s eyes trailed down to Catra’s hands, up to her lips, and then back to her eyes. Purposefully enough that Catra definitely noticed. “I don’t know,” Adora conceded as a blush spread over the tip of her nose.

Catra was used to their back and forth of light insults and banter every time they had to have their teams play against each other or any time the camps were doing something together. It was just the assumed _thing_ that they were supposed to hate each other.

She also just got on Catra’s nerves.

Until Adora turned away that same day and told her team to go get changed so they could get ready for dinner. She studied Catra for a little bit longer, Catra remembered she felt her entire body flush under her blue eyes.

“So,” Adora had said, clearly pondering what to say next. “Are you… Um, are you-”

“Am I… What?” Catra laughed a bit at her awkwardness, which she sort of found charming.

“Are you gay?”

Catra had laughed and thrown a hand over her mouth. “Are you serious?” She snorted, “Are _you_ gay?”

“Um,” Adora twirled a strand of hair from her ponytail around her finger. “Yeah, that’s um, that’s why I’m asking.”

“You’re-” Catra cocked her head to the side. “Oh,” Realization slowly dawned upon her as she took in Adora’s expression a bit longer. “Sorry,” Catra stuttered a little, before taking a deep breath. “Are you trying to ask me out? Not really interested in that, especially with you.”

“Oh,” Adora looked like she was about to reach out and grab Catra’s hand but stopped herself. “That was,” She coughed a bit, “Never mind. But don’t let that get to your head, I was _not_ asking _you_ of all people on a date.”

“So-”

“Let’s drop it,” Adora turned on her heel so quickly that she almost fell over. She was so clumsy that Catra consistently wondered how she didn’t always have a concussion.

Catra looked back to her team and quickly shouted at them to start to head back to camp. “Grayskull,” Catra yelled, making Adora stop in her tracks. “Tell me what you’re trying to ask.”

“No,” Adora crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t like you.”

“I don’t like you either,” Catra mirrored her expression. “Then why’d you ask?”

Adora scratched the back of her head, “It’s dumb.”

“Fuck,” Catra said, exasperated. “Alright, I’m gonna head back.”

Adora grabbed her wrist making Catra freeze in place. “If you ever wanna… Hang out,” She tightened her grip. “I guess, um, you know where to find me.”

“I told you, I don’t want to date-”

“Can you just,” Adora took a deep breath in and let it out through her nose. “Shut up for a second?”

“Excuse me?” Catra tore her hand away, “I’m heading back.”

“No,” Adora moved so she was standing in Catra’s path. “I meant, just let me think, okay,” She took a couple of steps closer so there was barely any space between them. Her hand shook a bit as she reached out to tuck a loose piece of Catra’s hair behind her ear.

Catra’s eyes went wide, they had gotten in each other's faces or been close in proximity but they had never _touched_ like that, not really. She looked back up at her to make eye contact. Adora looked surprised that Catra had yet to bolt in the other direction.

“This is quite bold of you,” Catra forced out an awkward laugh. “But if you want me to fuck you,” She moved her hand to wrap her arm around Adora’s waist. “You should at least say it.”

Adora made a high pitched squeaking noise and stumbled back a bit. “Yeah, okay, um,” She broke out into a grin. She looked around a bit surveying their surroundings before nodding. Her usual dorkiness faded for a slight moment when she leaned in close enough to whisper into Catra’s ear. “Then, do you want to fuck?”

Catra felt her heart in her throat at the raspiness of her voice and nodded a bit too eagerly.

They had both walked about six feet away from each other as they headed to the woods, deep enough in that no one would accidentally see them unless they were going for a hike.

It was definitely _not_ favorable conditions, but they made it work.

Afterward, They both turned their backs away from each other as they got dressed until Adora needed help retying her swimsuit top.

“We should never talk about this.” Adora gulped and Catra smirked when she shuddered under her touch.

“Agreed,” Catra nodded and stepped away after she was done helping her. “That was dumb.”

“Really dumb,” Adora said as she twiddled her thumbs. “It was, uh… Nice though.”

“Nice?” Catra rolled her eyes, “Glad to hear it.”

“But uh,” Adora reached out and grabbed Catra’s hand and pulled her closer. “If you want to do that again… You know where to find me.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Catra shook her head and forced herself not to smile when Adora giggled. “If you tell anyone, I swear I’ll kill you.”

“Oh, I am so scared.” Adora threw her hands up in the air dramatically. “I won’t, I promise.”

“Good,” Catra said, still forcing a neutral expression. “I’m going to head back.”

What started off as an extremely awkward, but also surprisingly… Okay mistake in the forest a couple of summers ago, turned into a pattern. It happened so often that all they would have to do was look at each other to know that it was going to happen again.

The worst part about Adora was that even when she was irritating she still was kind of cute. Her amount of cockiness had always bothered Catra, but after she found out how easy it was to wipe the smirk off her face, she also started to like that.

Being around Adora alone was one thing, Catra could handle that.

They had fallen into a sort of routine around how they acted when they were with each other, something Catra knew well enough that she could mend it to their new situation.

But she _was_ worried about how _Adora_ would act when they were in a big group together. Especially now that they were expected to work more closely and with all of their friends, that created a lot of opportunities for things to get fucked up.

So, everything was fine.

Catra groaned again when Scorpia had picked up enough of her things for the room to be presentable so that they could join everyone else in the woods. She made sure to stop by her own cabin again to grab a sweatshirt since the sun would be starting to set in an hour or two.

Scorpia was going on a long-winded rant as they walked about all of the different camp bond activities she had planned for the upcoming weeks. She was usually left in charge of making sure the campers and the counselors bonded together, with dumb (in Catra’s opinion) things like trust falls or walking someone down an obstacle course with a blindfold on.

They reached the part of the woods where the rest of the group was, and Catra had to hold back a laugh when she saw Adora leaning up against _the_ now infamous tree.

“Oh,” Adora’s eyes went wide as she looked between the two of them. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Catra said back pursing her lips. “We wanted to mingle.”

“Cool,” Mermista shrugged, “As long as you and Adora don’t kill each other, and Glimmer doesn’t kill you, I’m good.”

“I say, this will be fun.” Perfuma clapped her hands together. “We can play a game.”

“See,” Scorpia laughed, nudging Catra with her elbow. “ _Someone_ will appreciate me talking about different camp games.”

“Be my guest, go ramble.” Catra smiled, she awkwardly sat a few feet back from the circle everyone else was around until Bow gave her a confused look.

“You’re allowed to sit near us, Catra.”

“I’m good, actually.” She shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Don’t make me ask Scorpia to pick you up,” Bow shrugged, scooting over so there was room for Catra to join everyone else.

“Whatever,” Catra rolled her eyes and moved over to the circle. “Are you guys smoking?”

“We were,” Bow smiled, “You can ask Perfuma if you want any.”

“I’m good for now,” Catra sighed, she could basically feel Adora’s eyes glued on her. 

Catra was doing her best not to look at her at all. She didn’t know what the right combination between ignoring her or engaging with her would be, and she didn’t feel like finding out.

“You know who is really funny high?” Bow said, basically giggling.

Catra did not know why he was still trying to talk to her, but it made some sort of fondness wash over her, she liked Bow. She could do her best to hate everyone else, but hating Bow was like kicking a puppy.

“Who?” Catra said, staring at the unlit bonfire pit in the middle of the circle.

“Adora.”

Catra froze a bit before she nodded in agreement, “I can see that.”

“I just thought that you know, you could get a few laughs out of it. Maybe, I don’t know, laugh? Lighten up?”

“Fuck off,” Catra laughed, knocking her shoulder into his. “It’s hard to lighten up when everyone hates me.”

“Well, you’re kind of a dick sometimes.”

Catra laughed again, “Fair point. I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Suit yourself,” Bow said, he shook his head but Catra could tell he was being playful.

She let herself glance over to where Adora was standing, they made eye contact and both turned their heads away at the same time.

But what was the point, Catra thought, of being allowed to make Adora flustered if she couldn’t do it at the most inconvenient times.

Catra wanted to use their competitive nature to her advantage, maybe _then_ she could really lighten up.

She waltzed over to Adora and leaned up on the other side of the tree.

“Please don’t come here to make fun of me,” Adora sighed. “Everyone always makes fun of me when we smoke."

Catra held in a laugh with the back of her hand, “Need water?”

“No,” Adora chuckled, “Maybe a really hot girl could carry me back to my cabin.”

“I’ll grab Perfuma for you.”

“You think Perfuma is hot? I’m kind of jealous.”

“Shut up,” Catra kicked the side of Adora’s heel. “That’s too much.”

“Me pretending to be jealous is too much for you?” Catra could hear the smirk in Adora’s voice even without looking.

“Oh, sure, pretending.”

Catra reached her hand out just enough around the tree so her pinky was brushing Adora’s, she felt Adora seize up before exhaling. 

They both were looking in opposite directions, Catra focused on whatever conversation Scorpia was having. Her face was already flushed with happiness which was all Catra needed, hopefully, she could just _leave_ soon.

Catra loved camp, she loved being around her friends when she was there, she loved her job, but she really just hated the Bright Moon counselors.

They were at most annoying, but even their way of doing things just bothered her. And it was clear they felt the same way about her. She knew they’d all want her to adapt to doing it _their_ way, or, _Adora’s_ way. Which made her a whole different type of angry. 

But Scorpia had said the whole drive there to, _do it for the kids_ , which Catra growled at but knew was true.

She’d stay neutral, as long as no one fucked with her, or _her_ friends.

She wasn’t going to so easily let her guard down and act like they had all been friends for years as if they weren’t as equally rude to Catra as she was to them.

Catra felt Adora’s hand brush hers, she traced her fingers over Catra’s palm then ran them slowly over her wrist. She reached out like she was going to intertwine their fingers but pulled away from the contact completely.

Catra narrowed her eyes and smirked. She double-checked everyone was still lost in conversation before she leaned over. “You want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid.”

Adora’s eyes widened and she playfully shoved Catra backward, causing everyone to look over at them.

“I had a… Spider in my hair.” Catra breathed, before giving everyone a thumbs up.

“She did.” Adora nodded, “She… Hates spiders.”

“Very true,” Catra ran a hand through her hair and repositioned herself up against the tree.

Everyone in the group brushed it off easily and went back to talking, Catra shook her head and pursed her lips.

“You’re an idiot.”

Adora yawned dramatically and stretched her arms in the air. “I think I need to go lie down. Maybe take a nap for a bit. Rest, I guess.”

“You?” Glimmer tilted her head, “Nap? Rest? Are you okay?”

“Totally,” Adora nodded, “Totally okay, do you guys think you’re like… Gonna head back soon?”

“Probably not,” Glimmer checked the time on her phone. “We’ll probably eat some food or something. I can try to give you a heads up when we’re going to head in so we don’t scare you.”

“Perfect,” Adora nodded, and Catra was doing her absolute best not to break her composure. It was almost comical how obvious Adora could be and how oblivious literally everyone else was.

It made everything a bit more fun.

Adora looked back once and made eye contact with Catra before walking away.

Catra waited about two minutes before speaking,

“Hey, Scorp? I think I left something in the car, I’m going to get it and maybe take a walk.”

“Okay,” Scorpia smiled and waved at her as she walked away.

Catra gave herself a small internal lecture about how stupid of a decision this was as she ran to catch up with Adora, squeezing her sides from behind and making her giggle and jump.

“I wasn’t sure you’d catch up,” Adora smirked and crossed her arms.

“Oh, please,” Catra scoffed. “You couldn’t be more obvious if you tried.”

“Next time,” Adora cleared her throat and held up her hand. “Next time I will just say, hey, Catra, would you like to maybe fuck me in the shower before we go to bed?” Adora stumbled on her feet a bit before blushing. “Was that too forward?”

“I think we’ve passed the stage where that would be forward, lead the way.”

“Just checking,” Adora smiled and held open the front door of their cabin.

Catra was barely able to take a breath before Adora pulled her by the edges of her shorts to bring her in for a kiss. Adora ran her hands up Catra’s neck then placed them gently on her face, then in her hair.

Catra smiled, not breaking the kiss as she grabbed under Adora’s thighs to pick her up and carry her to the way too small of a shower, that was incredibly inconvenient.

But they made it work.

**Author's Note:**

> yeah :-)
> 
> you can find me [here](https://lesbianxcatra.tumblr.com/) and [here](https://twitter.com/catrashands)
> 
> let me know what you think so far :)


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